LesterStephanie Story
by lestersbaby
Summary: Steph and Lester are friends, but could they be more? Smut to come in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh," I sighed under my breathe as I massaged the back of my neck to try to get some relief.

A warm hand settled on my neck and I dropped my hand onto my desk.

"How long have you been doing searches today beautiful?" Les asked as he continued to rub the soreness from my neck.

"I don't know, what time is it?" I asked as I bent my neck and placed my forehead on the coolness of my desk.

"1700." Les stated while still giving me a glorious neck massage.

"Real people time," I mumbled.

"It's 5 o'clock," Les laughed.

"I've been doing searches since 8am, frickin' Rodriguez," I grumbled while sitting up.

Les dropped his hand and leaned up against my desk with his legs crossed at the ankles. He crossed his well muscled, will tanned, arms across his broad chest and grinned at me. "You wanna grab some dinner together?"

"That sounds great, I'm starved."

"You ready now or do you need to finish that search?"

"I'm ready now," I stated while shutting down my computer and grabbing my purse from my desk drawer.

"Great," Les responded while placing his arm around my shoulders as we headed towards the elevator.

I leaned my head onto Lester's t-shirt clad shoulder while we rode the elevator down to the garage and went over the past couple of months in my mind. Joe and I had broken up for good and I heard through the grapevine that he had started dating someone new a few weeks ago. Ric had gone to the Miami Rangeman to finish up some business there. We had talked a couple of times since he has been gone and things are going well for him. He plans to come home sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Lester and I have become pretty close. We have become good friends. We have dinner together 3 – 4 times a week and sometimes we hang out on his couch and watch a movie. Even though I think Lester is a very attractive man, he knows that I'm not looking for anything right now and neither is he.

The elevator doors dinged open and Les guided me towards his black Ford pickup truck. "How does Chinese sound?" Les asked as we both clicked our seatbelts into place.

"Sounds like a plan." I laughed.

"You wanna eat it there or have a picnic on my couch?"

"A picnic on your couch sounds like a great idea." I stated while I leaned my head back against the leather seat of the truck.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

"Beautiful, Steph, wake up." Lester whispered. "Come on beautiful, let's go eat dinner."

"Hmmm?" I questioned as I opened my sleepy eyes.

"You fell asleep. But, don't worry, I got all of your favorites. Orange chicken, fried rice, chow mein, and broccoli beef."

"Mmmm, my hero." I laughed as I stepped out of the truck and onto the hard concrete floor of the parking garage.

I followed behind Lester as he walked to his apartment on the fourth floor. As we entered his apartment I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Lester asked while turning to stare at me with his hazel eyes.

"You are such a boy." I stated while letting my eyes wander over the empty pizza boxes on the coffee table, the empty beer and water bottles strewn across the apartment, and of course the dirty clothes that didn't quite make it to the hamper.

"Yep, and damn proud of it," he laughed while getting paper plates from the kitchen along with a couple cold beers.

"I'm just gonna use the restroom while you get dinner ready, at least I know Ella cleans that," I joked and Lester playfully threw a pillow from the couch at my head.

When I came out of the bathroom Les had laid our dinner out on the coffee table and had the t.v. remote in his hand.

"Anything good on," I asked while fixing myself a plate and sitting down next to Les on the couch.

"Yeah, Die Hard."

"Mmm," I responded while taking my first bite of chow mein. I didn't really care what was on, I was enjoying my dinner far too much. I washed the last bite of fried rice down with my last sip of beer and leaned back into the soft couch.

"Come here," Les said while reaching out his right arm towards me.

I scooted closer to Les and he placed his arm around me.

"Thanks for being such a good friend," I whispered while leaning in to give Les a kiss on the cheek.

"Your welcome," Les answered while giving me a kiss on the top of my head.

"Les?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can I stay the night?" I asked while yawning at the same time.

"Mmmm."

"Mmmm," I responded to his mmm and snuggled closer into his warmth while drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

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I had woken up on Lester's couch this morning, alone. I figured he was already at work or at the gym. I came home to take a shower and to feed Rex. I am now back at Rangeman for another exciting day of searches.

As I entered the Rangeman building this morning I saw Tank and Bobby whispering together and when I said, "Good morning," they both responded with, "uh, hi." Then they both just walked off.

"Weird," I mumbled go myself as I continued on my way to my desk.

As I approached my desk I saw Hal was waiting for me. "Hi," I said while putting my purse in my desk drawer.

"Uh, hey Steph. "Um, I just wanted to let you know that Ranger is due back tonight around 7 and that he gave us strict orders not to bother him because he just wants to go straight to his apartment and rest."

"Okay Hal." "I got it, I won't bother him."

"Um, okay Steph, see you around," and Hal walked off.

"Why is everybody acting so weird?" I whispered to myself. "That's fine, I'll just be sure to leave here well before 7," I whispered to myself.

I settled into my long, boring day of searches and at 6 p.m. I stood, stretched, grabbed my purse, and headed for the elevator. "Wouldn't want to bother the all powerful Ranger," I mumbled to myself still not understanding why everybody was acting so strangely today.

On my way to the elevator I decided to stop by the communication room to say bye to the poor guys stuck on camera duty.

"Hey Manny and Zero," I said while shutting the door to the office behind me.

"Oh, hey Steph, how's it goin', "Zero asked while looking up at me.

"I'm just headed home and wanted to stop by and say hi and bye," I said

"Oh shit," Manny mumbled while looking at one of the small t.v.'s in the room."

"What's up?" Zero asked while turning back towards Manny.

I moved towards the camera to see what was going on. I suddenly understood why the guys wanted to make sure I wasn't there when Ranger came back tonight. I was looking at feed from the parking garage camera where Ranger was making out with a woman. Her hands were roaming all over his body and with their lips still fused together in a hot kiss I saw Ranger point his key fob at the cameras to jumble them.

I felt like my feet were superglued to the floor. I simply could not move.

"Steph, Steph," Manny and Zero were both calling my name and waving their hands in front of my face.

"What?" "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm just gonna go home now, yeah, see you guys in the morning."

I stepped out of the communications office and immediately began talking to myself, "Why, am I upset, of course he can see other women, we don't have a relationship. This is just silly." I moved to step on the elevator, "Wait, can't go to the parking garage cause Ric is there with his new girlfriend, that's no good." "I really have to stop talking to myself."

I stepped into the stairwell instead and after thinking for all of 2 seconds I headed towards Lester's apartment. We have been spending so much time together that we had exchanged keys a few weeks ago---thank goodness.

As I stepped into Lester's apartment I was happy that he was not home. I needed absolute quiet right now. I also suddenly felt extremely tired. I threw my purse on the couch and kicked my shoes off. I entered Les's bedroom and slid my jeans and bra off. I went into Les's closet and grabbed one of his t-shirts, I threw off my own shirt and slid into his. I slid into Lester's bed again thinking how lucky I am because I know that Ella puts fresh sheets on all the boys beds once a week.

I then proceeded to cry myself to sleep.

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"Steph, baby, wake up," Les whispered while gently shaking me.

"Baby, what's wrong?" "Are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt Les, I'm okay." I opened my eyes to find Lester intently starting at me. It was dark outside and the only light in the room was a small bedside lamp that Les must have turned on.

"Why were you crying?" Les asked while standing up from the bed. He walked into the bathroom and returned with a cold, damp washcloth.

"Oh, it's silly really. I just…..I just…."

"Oh fuck," Les stated while scrubbing his hands down his face. He sat with his head hung."

"What?" I asked, confused.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Oh, oh, you know too. Everybody knew but me," I whispered while standing up from the bed.

"Steph," Les said while grabbing my arm. "I….please….just tell me what to do, what can I do?"

The look in his eyes was haunted, I have never seen him look like this.

"Hold me?" I whispered. "Please."

Lester stood and stripped out of his pants and shirt until he was clad in a pair of flannel boxers. He clicked the bedside lamp off and slid into bed. I lay down and slid my body up against Les. We lay facing each other. Lester ran his fingers gently across my face and moved his hand to the middle of my back. He gently massaged my back for a few minutes and then pulled my snuggly against him. I nestled my face into the crook of his shoulder and his neck and for the second time in one day I cried myself to sleep.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

I woke up slowly and as my eyes opened I could feel how swollen my face was from crying so much yesterday. I gently moved Lester's arm from where it lay across my waist and went to use the bathroom and wash my face. The cool water felt good on my face and I used Lester's hair brush so that I didn't look too scary.

I moved from the bathroom to the kitchen where I started brewing a pot of coffee. As I clicked the switch on I felt a warm body press itself to me and two strong arms wrap themselves around me.

"Morning," Lester mumbled while placing a kiss on top of my head.

"Morning," I responded while turning to face him. "Thanks for last night. I really had not right to be so upset. It's not like Ric and I have any sort of relationship. Thanks for being there for me anyways."

Les smiled with his eyes and gave me a very thorough hug.

After Les and I had our coffee I put on my clothes from yesterday and Les took a quick shower and got dressed. He told me he wanted to take me to my apartment so I could take a shower and then he was treating me to breakfast. I was not going to say no to that offer.

Les came out of his bedroom with his dirty blond hair all wet and spiky and dressed in dark blue jeans and an olive t-shirt. "Um, Les, you look great and all but that is not Rangeman attire."

Lest grinned, "Taking the day off, and so are you." "I cleared it with Tank this morning, he's still in charge while Ranger is offline."

"Cool," I mumbled.

"Now, now, none of that beautiful. We are going to have a funtabulous day."

I grinned, "Funtabulous huh?"

"Yes, funtabulous. Now get your butt in gear cause we're out of here."

We both laughed as we walked out of Lester's apartment and towards the elevator. Les put his arm around me and as the elevator doors dinged open in the parking garage I again felt like my feet were superglued to the floor. I'm just happy Lester was there to give me a little push towards his truck.

Because, there, standing in front of Ric's turbo were Ric and the same woman from yesterday. They were making out and the women was wearing one of Ric's shirts.

Les and I were almost to his truck when Ric looked up. We locked eyes and the woman turned to look at me.

"Who is that," I heard the woman ask Ric.

"Nobody." was his answer.

Les managed to get me into his truck while I could not manage to pull my eyes away from Ric and this new woman. Les pulled out of the garage and drove towards my apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

A warm hand settled on my thigh. I was surprised to find myself looking up at my apartment building.

I turned in my seat and looked into Lester's eyes. His eyes searched mine and he slid across the truck seat towards me. He wrapped his strong arms around me. I leaned my head against his chest and relaxed into him.

After a few minutes Les whispered, "Steph?"

"Yeah?," I whispered back.

"You gotta go get ready for the day Baby."

"How should I dress for a funtabulous day?" I asked while scooting back and looking at Les.

Les smiled, "Wear comfortable clothes and be sure to bring a sweatshirt."

"Okay, it'll take me about 30 minutes to get ready."

"Take all the time you need ---- while you're getting ready there's something I need to go pick up," he stated with a playful grin.

"Something to pick up?" I questioned.

"See you soon Beautiful," Les ignored my comment and leaned over me to open my door.

"See you soon Les," I answered as I slid from his truck.

As I entered my apartment I said Hi to rex, fed him a grape and two cheerios, and stripped out of my clothes as a walked towards my bathroom. I stepped into my shower and stood under the hot spray. As the hot steam filled up the small bathroom I just stood there and kept picturing Ric kissing that woman and the word "nobody." The word "nobody" repeated over and over in my mind.

As the spray of the shower grew cooler I snapped out of my thoughts and came back to the present. I quickly washed what needed to be washed and shaved what needed to be shaved. I stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around my body and another towel around my head hoping it would help to tame my curly brown hair.

Walking into my bedroom I opened the closet door and chose my outfit. Glancing out the window I knew it was going to be another warm, humid day in Jersey, so I picked out a pair of jean cutoff shorts, a v-neck t-shirt in a pretty light blue color, and a pair of flat sandals. I threw my clothes on and ran back to the bathroom to finish getting ready. I brushed my teeth, put lotion everywhere, swiped on 3 coats of mascara, some clear lip gloss, and blasted my curls with the hair dryer for a couple minutes.

As I clicked the hair dryer off and fluffed my curls with my fingers I heard a knock at my door. "Come in," I shouted while giving myself one more look in the mirror.

I heard the front door open and shut and then I hear a little girl ask, "Uncle Lester where is Stephanie?"

I immediately peeked my head out the bathroom door. Standing in my living room was the ever handsome Lester Santos along with a cute little girl with bright blue eyes and a blond pony tail.

"I'm right here," I waved while walking toward the little cutie.

"And, what's your name?"

"My name is Alli and I am 7 years old," the little girl answered while holding up 7 fingers.

"So, Alli, where is Uncle Lester taking us today?" I questioned.

"Nope, Uncle Lester said you would ask me that and I am not telling," All laughed.

I looked up and found Lester watching the exchange between Alli and I with a twinkle in his eye. "Come on ladies, time for breakfast," Lester slid his arm around my shoulders and picked up Alli's hand.

I picked up my sweatshirt and purse by the door and we were on our way.

Alli skipped ahead to the truck and I quietly asked Lester, "Where have you been hiding her?"

Les grinned, "She's my sisters kid and I try to see her a couple days a month."

Alli reached the truck and turned towards us, "Uncle Lester, can we get pancakes."

"We sure can," he answered back.

With all of our stomachs full of pancakes Les turned the truck towards Point Pleasant. As we got closer to the ocean I rolled the window down and breathed in the cool salty air.

Lester reached out and placed his hand on my thigh, "It's relaxing, isn't it?" he questioned while nodding towards the ocean.

"Yep," I responded while resting my left hand on top of his and continuing to stare out at the ocean.

Les drove down the strip and found a parking spot near the boardwalk. I stepped from the truck and paused for a moment while closing my eyes and breathing in all of the smells of the ocean and the boardwalk. Salty ocean air, cool breeze, sounds of birds, smell of funnel cakes, corn dogs, sounds of kids playing. I felt my hand being picked up. I looked down and found Lester's big hand gently holding mine. I looked up and Les leaned in to give me a soft kiss on the cheek. I smiled.

"Come on," Alli shouted while grabbing Lester's other hand and attempting to drag him onto the boardwalk.

Les and I both laughed as we followed the little girl onto the boardwalk. It was a whirlwind of a day. She wanted to play the games, go to the arcade, ride the rides, and eat. It was so much fun to watch how All and Lester interacted. It was also fun to watch Alli have so much fun, her laugh was a truly beautiful sound. After an exhausting, but fun day of chasing Alli around on the boardwalk the last thing that she requested was a walk on the beach.

We all walked down the beach together and suddenly Lester plopped down on the sand, pulling me down with him.

"Hey, what about Alli," I questioned while scrambling to get up.

"Baby, she's fine." Les answered while securing his arms around me --- I was sitting in front of him with my back to his front. "Relax," Les whispered into my ear while pulling me towards him. "Look out at the waves, just enjoy being here."

"Mkay," I responded while melting into him. I looked down the beach and could see that Alli kept looking back at us. She was staying where we could see her the whole time. She would stop to pick up shells or play in the sand.

Not many people were on the beach since it was nearing evening time and I could hear the crashing of the waves along with Lester's quiet breathing. I relaxed into the sights and sounds of the ocean, but unfortunately my mind wandered back to the sight this morning from the parking garage.

"Les?"

"Hmm?"

"Who is she?"

"I really don't know Steph. All I know is that Ric called Tank the day before he was due back and told him that he was bringing a woman with him. That's really all I know."

"Mmm," I responded.

"What is your relationship with Ric anyways,?" Les asked quietly.

Les's arms began gently running up and down my arms as I answered, "I love him, but he doesn't love me. We slept together one time because of a deal he made with me."

"A deal," Le's voice raised and his hands clamped down on my arms.

"Uh, Les…"

"Sorry Baby," Les responded while releasing my arms and rubbing them.

"I need to move on, I should have moved on a long time ago. I guess him moving on has really shown me that."

"You deserve someone who will love you back," Les whispered.

I turned in Les's arms and faced him. I hooked my arms around his neck, "Les?" I questioned.

"Hmm?"

"Kiss me?"

Suddenly Les's lips were on mine, I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth and just when things were heating up Les pulled back. I opened my eyes to see Lester looking at something and when I followed his gaze I found Alli a few feet away and staring at us.

"Sorry," I mumbled while pulling away from Les.

Les pulled me back and gave me a gently lingering kiss, "Never, ever apologize for kissing me Baby."

Les stood and pulled me with him, "Time to get Alli home," he said.

Alli fell asleep about 5 minutes into the car ride after she talked a mile a minute about all of the fun things we had done today. After she fell asleep I undid my seatbelt and slid across the seat to rest my head on Lester's shoulder.

"Hi," he whispered while placing his arm around my shoulders.

"Hi," I whispered back while placing my right hand on his chest. "Thanks for the funtabulous day."

"Anytime Baby," Les placed a soft kiss on top of my head.

"Where does your sister live?"

"She lives in the Burg, about 5 minutes from your parents house."

"Is she older or younger than you?"

"She is 2 years older."

"Is she your only sibling."

"Yes."

"Mmm," I responded while drifting off to sleep using Lester's shoulder as my pillow.

I awoke to sitting in the front seat alone and the feel of cool night air. I turned in my seat and found Lester carrying Alli towards the front door of a house. The front door opened and Les went in for a minute, then he was back.

"Hey Baby," Les whispered when he entered the truck.

"Hey." I placed my hand on the side of Lester's face, the street lights placing a soft glow around him. "Your are so handsome," I stated.

"Your are so beautiful," Les stated. "Let's get you home to bed."

10 minutes later we were at my apartment building. "Can I walk you up?" Les asked.

"Yes, please," I responded.

Les laced his fingers through mine as we walked towards my apartment. When we reached my apartment Les stopped suddenly and pulled me to him. He hugged me to him and I relaxed into his embrace. He released me and asked, "Steph, will you come back to my place?"

"I don't know Les…."

"I just want to hold you and talk to you, that's all Steph I promise." It was so cute, he was almost pleading with me.

"Okay," I stated while placing my hands on his shoulders and placing a soft, warm kiss on his cheek, "Just let me pack a bag."

A confrontation between Steph and Ranger along with some smut between Steph and Lester to come soon……


	3. Chapter 3

I am sitting in Lester's bed, propped up on 2 fluffy pillows, wearing soft cotton grey boy shorts and a pale pink tank top. Les is lying next to me with his hazel eyes sparkling, clad in a pair of sweat pants, and no shirt.

There is a large candle burning on Lester's night stand and some soft music is coming from the cd player in the bedroom.

"Steph?" Les asked as he turned on his side and propped himself up on one elbow.

"Yeah?" I questioned back while turning my head.

"I have enjoyed these last few weeks more than you know," Les said while staring intently at me. "I love being with you, being around you," he continued.

I reached my hand out to touch Les's arm, "You have become one of my best friends." I stated quietly as I gently ran my fingers up and down Lester's warm arm.

Les picked up my hand and kissed my palm, he then scooted a little closer towards me and lightly ran his fingers across my forehead.

"Have you ever heard anyone say that I am a player or a ladies man?" Les asked seriously.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Les's hand dropped away from my forehead and as my laughter died down Les stated, "I guess you have heard that about me."

"Um, yeah, maybe once or twice," I laughed. "What made you ask me that," I questioned with one last giggle.

"I just…That's not really who I am anymore."

"Les, what is it you want to tell me?" I asked while inching closer towards Lester's strong, warm body.

Les pulled me the rest of the way toward him and wrapped his arms around me. "I used to be a real player, a different woman every week, but that got old a few years ago. I still flirt a lot, so the guys still think of me as a player. The truth is that I haven't brought a girl home in a long time."

Les paused and squeezed me to him. I nestled my head on his chest and ran my fingers lightly down his side.

"Hmm," he sighed before continuing, "When we started hanging out so much over these last few weeks it was kind of like I could pretend you were my girlfriend. We have been having dinner together 3 or 4 times a week, watching movies together, and sometimes I'm even lucky enough to have you fall asleep in my arms."

I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to kiss this wonderful man lying with me. I gently slid my body upwards so that me face was level with his. I cupped his handsome face in my hands and lowered my mouth onto his soft lips. Les's arms wrapped securely around my body and as the kiss deepened I slid my hands behind Les's neck so that my fingers could glide up into his hair. Lester's arms remained unmoving and locked around me as I opened my lips as an invitation for him to take the kiss deeper. Les accepted my invitation and our tongues were dancing together.

"Les," I moaned.

Les pulled away gently and looked into my eyes while his fingers caressed my face, my hair, and my arms. "Goddamnit Stephanie, you have no idea how beautiful, smart, sexy, and funny you are. Any man would be lucky to be with you." He stated in an almost harsh voice.

Les's face lowered a fraction of an inch and I met him the rest of the way so that our lips were fused together again in a hot kiss. Les again kept his arms tightly locked around my body while I allowed my own hands to discover his unbelievable body. My finger tips ran across his rock hard biceps while the arches of my feet ran across his well developed calf muscles. My hot mouth moved from his mouth to the hollow of his throat, across his glorious shoulder, and down to his hard chest. I darted my tongue out to touch one of Les's nipples and found myself gently flipped onto my back.

I looked up at Les and tried to catch my breathe while he gently held my hands at my sides and looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. I searched his eyes with mine and I was the first to speak. I removed one of my hands from his slight grasp and reached up to run my fingertips across his cheek. His eyes closed shut as a did this, "Les?"

"What is it baby?" he questioned very quietly with his eyes still shut.

"I don't want to lose my best friend."

His eyes slid open, "I couldn't bear to lose you," he stated while lowering his mouth to place a soft kiss on the side of my mouth.

Les moved to roll on his side and I rolled on my side so that we were facing each other in the big bed and mere inches from touching.

"What happens now?" I whispered.

"If I'm lucky you let me give you a good night kiss and then hold you all night long while you sleep."

"That sounds nice," I agreed and quickly found myself pressed up against a hard male body.

Les's warm lips found mine and gave me the softest, most gently goodnight kiss I have ever had. As the kiss ended our arms wound themselves around each other and our bodies remained pressed up against each other.

"Good night Les," I whispered with one last kiss on his chest.

"Good night baby," Les whispered while a yawn escaped his perfect mouth.

I giggled slightly and found myself yawning too.

Lester's chest rumbled lightly with a laugh and then I was asleep.

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I woke up feeling very disoriented. I looked around the room and saw that the alarm clock glowed a red 2 am. Les had one arm across my middle and one leg across mine. A smile flitted across my face as I remembered our talk and our kisses from only a few hours before. I gently moved Les's arm and slid as quietly as I could from the bed. I used the restroom and moved to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

As I sipped my water and thought about what Les had told me and I also thought about how my feelings for Les had changed over the past few weeks. My mind wandered over all of the things Les and I had done together and how I felt when I was with him. Unfortunately Les happened to be with me when I had seen Ranger with his woman and that started me thinking about that whole situation. Do I still love Ranger, did I ever love Ranger, did he ever love me??? As I set my glass in the sink I came to the realization that I needed to have a talk with Ranger so that I could have some closure. I was not looking forward to the talk, but I knew it needed to happen.

Just as I made this realization I felt strong, warm arms wrapping themselves around me from behind. "You lied, you said I could hold you all night," Les mumbled sleepily into my hair.

I turned in Les's arms, stood on my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and leaned in for a kiss. Heat scorched through my body as his lips fused to mine. I suddenly found myself being lifted and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Les's hands grabbed my ass and he worked his mouth to place wet kisses along my collar bone as he walked us back towards the bedroom.

"Les," I moaned out and he threw me on the bed.

Les pounced on the bed and covered my body with his. "Uhhh," I moaned out as I rubbed my body against his. "Les."

Les's breathing became ragged as his mouth worked it's way from my neck and towards my rock hard nipples. As he slid my tank top down to reveal one nipple we looked into each other's eyes and as he sucked one hard nipple into his hot mouth my back arched up off the bed.

I continued to rub my hot center against his sharp thigh muscle while he assaulted my nipples. His hands ran up and down my sides while his mouth continued to suck harshly on my nipples. I could feel what he was doing to my nipples all the way down to my doo-dah. "Oh God," I moaned out.

My whole body felt so good and then it was all gone. "What?" I questioned breathlessly

"Too many clothes," Les stated briskly while pulling off my tank top and boy shorts. As the last scraps of my pajamas were ripped from my body Les let out a sharp gasp.

"What?" I asked alarmed, while trying to cover my body.

Les very easily moved my arms so that they were limply lying at my sides. "I thought I knew how beautiful you were, but my god, I guess I had no idea."

My eyes searched his and then I pulled him on top of my. "I need you baby, I need you now," I told him.

"I wanted to take my time with you," Les stated will looking into my eyes.

"Les, please, please," I begged. I suddenly needed him to be filling me more than I needed air. "I'm on the pill Les," I moaned frantically as I reached down to free him of his sweat pants.

He slid into me easily and as I grabbed his ass with both hands I whispered into his ear, "You don't have to be gently with me Les."

Les started moving, but it wasn't enough.

"Harder, please," I panted out.

"I'm not gonna last baby, it's been a while," he got out.

"It's okay, we can always do this again later."

"Oh God," Les groaned out.

Les roughly pulled in and out a few time and I found myself cumming, I screamed and dug my nails into his ass. A few more strokes found us cumming together.

Les rolled off of me while trying to catch his breath and I found myself crying.

Les's breathing slowed and he placed gently fingertips on my cheek, "Baby, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be so rough, please don't cry, I'm sorry."

"You weren't too rough, that's not why I'm crying," I sobbed out.

I moved to stand up from the bed so that I could cry in the bathroom in peace, but Les wasn't having that. He pulled me back down to the bed as soon as I tried to stand up. He cradled me against his chest while I continued to cry. As my last sob hiccupped out of me Les slid back so that he could look at my face.

"Will you tell me now Baby?" he questioned on a whisper.

I placed my hand on his cheek and looked into his worried eyes. "That is only the second time I have ever cried after sex," I whispered. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"Why did you cry?" Les quietly questioned.

"It means I feel very connected to you, the sex with you was not just sex, it put my body into emotional overload." I continued to run my fingers from Les's check to his shoulder and down his arm, "Crying after sex like that is my bodies way of telling my brain that we have a very special relationship. Cheesy, right?" I questioned while looking up at Lester.

His answer was to kiss me senseless. He then pulled me to him and said, "Get some sleep, cause I'm taking you out to breakfast in a few hours."

His arms wrapped tightly around me and I fell into blissfull, dreamless sleep.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

It's 10am and I'm already working on my second search. Les had let me sleep till 7 and then took me out for a fabulous breakfast. He was also living on the edge, he held hands with me in the elevator and kissed me (tongue and all) when he said goodbye to me at my cubicle after breakfast. We got a few hoots for that stunt. We had made plans for Les to pick me up at my apartment at 7, I truly couldn't wait to see him again

I found myself procrastinating on the whole meeting with Ranger thing. I found myself promising myself that after I finished this then I would go knock on his office door, then after I finish this next thing I'll go knock. Before I knew it my stomach was growling for lunch. After a short pep talk to myself I convinced myself to talk to Ranger and then my reward would be lunch. I stood up, stretched, and walked towards Ranger's office. I was almost to his office when I ran into the man himself. Awkward.

"Um, hi," I greeted (I know, eloquent).

"Stephanie," he stated in a very "I am your boss" manner and then continued on towards his office.

"Ranger," I mumbled, barely above a whisper."

"Yes," he responded with his back towards me.

"If you have a few minutes can we talk, please?"

Ranger turned to face me, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I was kind of hoping we could talk in your office," I asked while my heart was about to beat out of my chest because I was so nervous.

"You can say whatever you need to say right here," Ranger stated.

"Ranger," I whispered in a questioning tone.

"I don't have time for this Stephanie," He stated in a harsh tone.

I looked around quickly and found most of the desks empty because people were at lunch, but I did see Hal and Bobby trying to look like they weren't listening when they obviously were. There were pretending to look over some report together while sneaking peeks at me and Ranger. Whatever.

"I just, I ….." I realized that I don't even know how to start this conversation. I wanted to talk about what our relationship had been, but I was not about to do that here in the middle of the office. "I just wanted to say how happy I am that you found a woman you can be in a relationship with."

It's like I can't even believe that words that are coming out of my mouth.

Ranger looked at me for a half of a moment and I saw his blank mask drop for that half of a second. "Stephanie," he stated in a softer tone while reaching out to touch my arm.

"I was just on my way to lunch, see you later Ranger." I stated while walking away at the same time.

I didn't go straight to lunch, I made a detour at the bathrooms, locked myself in a stall, and did some deep breathing. Well, I certainly didn't have closure and my relationship with Ranger is stranger than ever. But, I was very proud of myself and I certainly deserve lunch now.

I took one final deep breath and heard my cell phone chirp. I saw Lester on the screen and instantly felt calmer. "Hi," I said on a happy breath.

"Hi Baby," Les said in a sexy husky voice.

"What's up?" I questioned.

"Bobby just called me and I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I smiled, "I'm fine Baby, are you still coming to pick me up at 7."

"If that's what you still want," Les answered.

"I can't wait to see you, I miss you," I admitted.

"I miss you too, see you soon, bye."

"Bye," I shut my cell phone and walked out of the bathroom towards the break room for lunch. I'm pretty sure I was sporting a stupid grin all throughout lunch.


	4. Chapter 4

I managed to finish out the rest of my day at Rangeman without seeing Ranger. At 3:30 my search inbox was empty so I decided to give myself the rest of the day off. I shut down my computer, placed my purse over my shoulder, and went down to the parking garage to get into my car.

"Hey Rex," I greeted as I entered my apartment. I dropped a grape in his cage and went to my bedroom to take a nap. I was hoping to surprise Lester at his apartment before he had a chance to come get me at 7, so I set my alarm for 5pm.

When my alarm went off I stretched and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for my date with Les. I smiled the whole time I got ready, I just couldn't stop, the idea of seeing him made me so happy.

I chose to wear a short denim skirt, a pale yellow tank top, and a pair of flat white sandals. I swiped on 2 layers of mascara, some clear lip gloss, and blasted my hair with the hair dryer so that my face was surrounded with soft brown curls. I packed an overnight bag just in case, grabbed my purse, and got in my car to head back towards Rangeman.

I stepped into Les's apartment around 6 and heard the shower running. I giggled to myself and walked towards the bathroom.

"Baby," I said in a sing song voice trying not to scare him.

"Lisa, is that you?" Lester laughed.

I knew Les was kidding with me, but I was going to get him for that one. I detoured into the kitchen and filled up a glass with cold water. I proceeded to walk towards the shower and said, "No, it's not Lisa baby," and threw the cold water at him.

"Baby, come on I was just kidding," Les said while pretending to be hurt by my actions.

"Mmmmh," I tried to look serious, and failed after a half of a second. I burst into laughter.

Les and I grinned at each other. "Looking pretty good there Mr. Santos," I stated while looking his naked body up and down.

"Not bad yourself there Ms. Plum. You'd look even better in here with me," he motioned for me to join him in the shower.

"As much as I would like to join you, I was promised a date tonight and I don't want to miss it."

"K, give me a few minutes to get dressed," Les smiled while stepping from the shower and wrapping a towel around his hips.

"I'll take a rain check on the shower for later," I told Les while he took a step towards me.

"You got it," Les responded while placing a wet kiss on top of my head.

I smiled and just then there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Les said.

"K," I said while walking towards Les's bed and sitting down. I started flipping through Les's cd's while I waited for him to deal with whoever was at the door.

"Ric," Les answered the door in a stern tone.

"Santos."

"Well, just come on in Ric, make yourself at home," Les said in a condescending tone and I could imagine Ric just walking into the apartment.

"Are you dating Stephanie?" Ranger questioned in an authoritative tone.

"I don't see what business that is of yours," Lester responded.

"You are both me employees…" Ric started.

"Oh, don't try and pull that bullshit with me Ric. You've moved on and she can't, isn't that right?"

"Fuck," Ranger responded and I could hear him sit on the couch in the living room. "I don't even know why the hell I came here to see you Les. Stephanie tried to talk to me earlier today."

"She probably wants to know why you brought some woman back from Miami, why you can give this other woman a commitment that you would never give to her. You need to talk to her Ric, she deserves that much."

"I know, you're right Santos."

I heard Ric stand up from the couch and the front door opened, but Ric must have hesitated. "Treat her right Lester, don't screw this up, she's a special woman." Wow, I can't believe he just said that.

"Yeah, I know Ric, I don't plan on fucking this up," Les responded.

The front door shut and I pretended to organize Les's cd's when he walked back through his bedroom. The bed dipped when Les sat down, but I continued to look down at the cd's.

"Baby, look at me."

I set down the cd's and looked up at Les.

"You heard what we said?"

"Yeah, sorry," I said while looking down again, feeling uncomfortable.

"Baby, please don't be sorry. I'm going to finish getting ready and we'll leave in 10 minutes okay?"

"K," I said and as Lester went to stand up from the bed I launched myself at him. Les stumbled back and fell onto the bed. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged myself to him. After a moment of silence I released my guy, "Okay, you can finish getting ready now." I stated.

Lester stood and grinned at me. I watched him walk into the closet, pick out some clothes and walk back towards the bathroom. 5 minutes later he walked out wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts, a blue short sleeved buttoned up shirt, and a pair of brown flip flops. His dirty blonde hair was still damp and a little spiky.

I stood when Les reached me and he bent down to place a kiss on my lips. I wrapped my arms around him again, "I missed you today."

"Mmm, me too," Les sighed and wrapped his arms securely around my waist.

After a few silent moments we released each other and walked to the door holding hands. "So, where are you taking me tonight?" I questioned Les as we rode down to the parking garage in the elevator.

"You'll see," Les waggled his eyebrows at me.

I simply sighed and stepped into Lester's truck.

"Do you like Mexican food Steph?" Les asked when as he sat in the driver seat of his truck.

"Yes, as long as it's not too spicy."

"Great," Les smiled.

When we reached the restaurant Les walked around to my side of the truck and took my hand. Les leaned in and whispered in a hot breathe against my ear, "I need to kiss you right now."

A smile played on my lips as I stood on my tippee toes, placed my arms around Les's neck, and fused our lips together. Lester's mouth opened slightly and I pressed my tongue against his. He moaned into my mouth and I wanted to jump him. I ran my hands under his shirt to feel the hard muscles of his back. Lester's hand cupped my breast and when his thumb ran across my nipple I moaned into his mouth.

"Hey, get a room!!!" someone shouted.

I immediately pulled back from Les, embarrassed. Apparently Les doesn't embarrass quite as easily because he pulled my body back against his for one lingering kiss.

"Dinner," Les questioned while reaching his hand out to take mine.

I smiled and took his hand while straightening my hair and clothes with my other hand. We entered into a small restaurant that held a couple of pinball machines, a few booths, and a tiny salsa bar. "Hola Lester," the woman behind the counter greeted.

"Hi Sara," Les greeted back while pulling me along with him towards the counter. "This is Stephanie, Stephanie this is Sara," Les introduced us.

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"You too Stephanie," Sara smiled.

"The usual?" Sara asked Lester.

"Yes," Les answered while taking 2 paper cups from Sara.

"Can you get me a Pepsi?" Les asked while handing me the cups.

"Sure," I responded while taking the cups and walking towards the soda machine. While I got the sodas Les paid for our dinner and found us a booth to sit at.

I joined Les at the booth, "When did you find this place?" I asked while handing Les his soda.

"I've been coming here since I was a kid. They have great food and I like it here."

Just then Sara brought our food out; cheese enchiladas, warm tortillas, Spanish rice, and salad. "Mmm, yummy, thanks Sara."

"Your welcome Stephanie, Lester," she smiled on her way back to the kitchen.

"How was your day?" I asked Lester while we started eating dinner.

"It was good, got a couple of the bad guys off the street."

"That's good. This food is excellent Les."

Les grinned, "I know."

"Les?"

"Yeah?"

"When is the next time you plan on seeing Alli?"

"I'm not sure, sometime this week or next, why?"

"Can I hang out with you guys, I had so much fun," I smiled at Les.

"It's funny that you ask about Alli," Les smiled back.

"Why is that?"

"Well, Alli told my sister all about you and now my sister wants to meet you."

"Oh, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" I questioned.

"I think this is a very good thing, I would love for you and my sister to meet."

"Just let me know the day and time and I'll be there." I told Les while taking another bite of the yummy food.

Les and I talked more about our day over dinner and before I knew it both of our plates were empty. "That was so good," I told Les.

Les just smiled and stood up while extending his arm to me, "Shall we?" he asked.

"We shall," I responded while placing my hand on his arm.

Les and I slid into his truck. I turned my body to face Les. Les turned his body to match my position. We both smiled for a moment and then crashed our bodies together. "I can't seem to keep my hands off of you," Les mumbled against my mouth.

"Mmmm, I think I know what you mean," I answered back. With Lester's warm, soft lips on mine I reached my hands down to start unbuttoning his shirt. I felt the need to be skin to skin with him so badly.

Les laughed and pushed my hands away, "What are you doing?" He asked against my lips.

"Mmm, too many clothes," I repeated his line from earlier.

Les laughed again and pulled back. "You know that we are not finished with our date yet, I still have other places to take you, things to do, people to see."

"The only person I want to see is you and the only thing I want to do is take that shower with you now."

"Oh, but I was going to take you bowling next, it was going to be fun," Les mock pouted.

"But baby, we aren't wearing socks," I said while pointing down at our feet. "We'll have to do the bowling another time."

Les truly did look torn between taking me bowling or taking me in his shower, so I helped him to make his decision. I reached my hand down to stroke him through his shorts.

I grinned and Les grabbed my hand to stop me. I looked at him with confused eyes, not understanding why the mood in the truck had suddenly gone from fun and joking to serious. "What?" I questioned when Lester hadn't said anything for a moment.

"Steph, baby, I really did want to take you on a whole real date. You deserve to be taken out, I want to treat you right."

A small smile tugged at my lips as I reached my hand over to place it on Lester's thigh. "Les, you do treat me right. You have been so sweet to me. I'll tell you what, how about we go home right now and have a nice night in and then tomorrow night we go bowling. That way we can plan ahead and have our socks with us." I grinned.

Les leaned in, kissed me on the lips, and clicked my seatbelt securely around me. Once he pulled the truck into traffic he held my hand the rest of the way to Rangeman. When we pulled into the parking garage Les grabbed my hand again, "Just a second baby, I have to get something out of my car," I told him.

We walked towards my car together and I opened the trunk to pull out my overnight bag. When I looked up at Les he had the biggest grin on his face. He leaned down and pressed a hard, long kiss to my lips while his hands gripped my shoulders. As we parted I gasped for breathe, "What was that about?" I asked with a smile.

"You packed a bag earlier in the day cause you planned on staying with me all night again," Les grinned.

"Um, yeah."

"I like that," he responded as he pressed his hard body to mine and gave me another hard, demanding kiss.

My hands dropped my bag and my arms automatically locked around Les's neck.

Lester's mouth dropped down to suck on my neck and my hands moved to feel under his shirt to trace the hard muscles of his back.

The sound of the parking garage elevator door opening startled me and I pulled away from Les.

A grinning Bobby Brown looked my way, "Hey Steph, Les."

"Brown," Les responded.

"Hi Bobby," I answered while I blushed.

Les wrapped his arms around me from behind and I placed my hands on his arms while we silently watched Bobby get into his car and drive out of the garage. I turned in Les's arms and placed my hands on his chest. "Les?" I asked while meeting his eyes.

"Mmm?" Les responded.

"I'm feeling really dirty, like I could really use a shower," I stated while running my hands down Les's chest.

Faster than a speeding bullet Les picked up my overnight bag and swooped me up in his arms.

I giggled all the way to Les's apartment. Les walked us both into his bathroom and gently sat me on the counter. Les looked into my eyes and placed his palm on the side of my face, "Steph, I want to ask you something," he stated in a serious voice.

I reached down and held on of Les's hands, "What is it?" I whispered.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Les, of course I will be you girlfriend," I smiled.

Les gently lowered his face towards mine and placed a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. His fingertips worked their way under my top and he pulled it over my head. Once my top was off I heard Les take in a sharp breath, "What?" I asked startled.

"I love your lingerie," Les said while staring at my pale yellow, lacy bra. "I would be happy to take you shopping at Victorias Secret anytime you want," he grinned.

"I'll remember that," I responded. "Now kiss me," I demanded.

I melted into his body as his lips descended on mine. A sigh escaped my lips as he pulled me closer to his body. "Want you naked," I mumbled against his lips wanting again to feel his skin against mine.

"You too," he mumbled.

Les and I helped each other to get naked and then Les lifted my under my arms to slide me off of the bathroom counter so that I was standing in front of him. I couldn't resist pressing our naked bodies together. I wrapped my arms around his middle, pressed myself against him, and relaxed my head against his chest. I giggled as I felt something hard press itself against my stomach. I reached my hand down to stroke Lester and he groaned in response.

"That feels so good Baby," Les said in a husky voice.

"Mmm," I responded as I began kissing my way across his chest while still stroking his hard cock.

"I'm gonna start the shower," Les said.

"Mkay," I said while releasing my hold on his cock.

I watched Les turn his body towards the shower and start the water, I moved towards him and glued my body against his back. Les sighed as I clasped my hands around him.

I smiled and began kissing across his shoulders and back while we waited for the water to heat up.

Les stepped into the shower and I followed. As Les and I stepped under the warm spray of the shower Les bent to place a short kiss on my lips and then he brought me into a tight embrace. I began running my hands up and down Les's back as he moved his mouth to place soft, wet kisses on my neck. His mouth moved lower to suck one of my nipples into his hot mouth.

"Oh God," I moaned out. Les alternated between sucking on my nipples and massaging my breasts. I started moaning more loudly and digging my fingernails into Les's back. "Les, that feels so good," I moaned out.

I wanted to make Les feel good too, so I moved to kiss his neck, then his nipples, and then moved lower to kiss his dick. My hands held tight to the backs of his thighs while putting his hard dick into my hot mouth. My mouth slid up and down his dick while his laced his fingers into my hair. A deep masculine moan came from Lester's mouth and I thought it was the most erotic sound I had ever heard. I began sucking harder on his cock and moved my hand to massage his balls. With one more deep moan Les exploded in my mouth and I swallowed every drop of him.

Les helped me to stand up and pulled me into another tight embrace, "Thank you," he whispered into my hair.

I pulled back slightly to look at his handsome face, "I've never been with a man who moaned before," I stated quietly.

Les said, "Oh," and actually looked a little embarrassed.

"I find it incredibly sexy," I said as I leaned in to kiss Les and he bent down to meet my lips. Les's mouth opened and our tongues began twirling together. Our kissing lingered on and on. Les's fingers dipped down to touch me at my center. He rubbed and pinched my clit and suddenly I could not longer concentrate on kissing. My head dropped to rest on Les's chest as he rubbed my clit and placed two fingers inside of me. Loud moans escaped me as he pistoned his fingers faster and faster. My fingers gripped his arms as I came with one loud moan.

As my shudders died down I opened my eyes to find Lester staring at me intently.

"What," I whispered.

"I am trying to figure out how I got so lucky."

I smiled and leaned up to place a soft kiss on Les's cheek. "I'm feeling pretty lucky too."

Les reached over to turn the shower off, the water had turned cold. He reached a hand out of the shower to pull a fluffy white towel from the rack and began to gently dry my body. He then dried his body, threw the towel on the floor and grabbed my hand. We walked hand in hand to Les's bedroom. As we entered the room Les lit the large candle next to his bed and gently sat me on the edge of his bed. Then he pushed me back down to lie on his bed and his fingers easily slid my thighs apart. His tongue started doing magical things to my doo-dah. His tongue circled my clit, he put his tongue inside me, and then began sucking so hard on my clit that I wrapped my hands into Lester's sheets and screamed as I came. Les ran his hand across my clit as I came down from my orgasm. "Oh my God," I gasped out.

Les grinned at me, "Baby?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" I asked, confused.

Les grinned even bigger and pressed his rock hard cock against my opening.

"Oh God," I moaned as my eyes slid shut.

Les pushed himself into me with one hard thrust and I opened my eyes to watch him. I wanted to watch him as he thrust himself in and out of me, but as the sensations grew my eyes slid shut again. I gripped Les's forearms and hung on for the ride. I lost count of how many times I came.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

The next thing I knew I was waking up in a naked tangle of arms and legs with Lester.

"Mmm," I moaned as I stretched.

"God, if I wasn't late for a meeting I would make you really moan," a sleepy Lester responded.

"What time is it?" I questioned as I reached for Les's cock.

Les rolled out of my reach, "It's 8:10 and I was due at a meeting at 8," Les laughed while getting up.

"Do you really have to go to this meeting," I pouted while trying to reach for Les again."

"Oh God Baby, stop it. You have no idea what you do to me."

I sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed while eyeing Les's huge cock, "Oh, I think I have an idea," I said. "I could cum really quick, it'll just take a minute," I teased while reaching out for Les again.

This time he let me catch him. He let me pull him towards me and I spread my legs wide open for him. He thrust into me and I gasped out. "Too hard?" He asked in a soft tone.

"Mmmm, just right." I responded.

Just then both of our cell phones started ringing. I sighed and dropped my hands to my side in defeat. However, Lester just kept going. Yeah, I am more important than work.

Les started kissing me as he thrust into me again and again. Once again I lost track of how many times I came. When it was all over and Les hugged himself to me the tears started again. Les backed away a little so he could look into my eyes.

"What is it baby?"

"I am more important to you than work," I whispered through my tears.

"Of course," Les said, looking confused.

I hugged Les to me and snuggled into his chest. After a few minutes I whispered, "Did you totally miss the meeting?"

"Mmm, yeah, think so," he responded.

"You want some coffee," I asked.

"Sounds good."

"K, I'll make the coffee while you shower," I said while standing up from the bed.

"Or you could join me in the shower….

"Raincheck for tonight?" I questioned.

"Sure Baby."

I walked towards the kitchen to make coffee and I heard Les start the shower. While I waited for the coffee to brew and tried to stay away from a wet naked Lester so that we would both get some work done today I fished my cell phone out of my purse. I had one new message and I pushed the button to connect to my voice mail.

"Babe, Steph, will you meet me for lunch please? 1 o'clock on seven?"

I knew I had to get this over with and at least he was willing to actually talk to me now, so I texted back that yes, I would have lunch with him.

Just then I heard Les get out of the shower. We both got ready for work and went downstairs where, surprisingly, no one said a thing about our tardiness.

I watched the clock and waited for 1 o'clock to come.


	5. Chapter 5

The day ticked by slowly, I couldn't wait to see Lester again and I was nervous about meeting with Ric. At 12:55 I took my purse with me to the bathroom where I took care of business, washed my hands, and swiped on one more coat of mascara. I pulled the key fob from my purse and continued on my way to the seventh floor. On the elevator ride up I realized that I should give Ric the key fob.

I hesitated at Ric's door and then decided to knock. Ric answered the door clad in his usual Rangeman uniform of cargos and tight black t-shirt.

"Thank you for coming," Ric stated.

"Sure," I responded.

Ric took a step to the side and I stepped into the apartment. I took one look around the apartment and felt hot tears burn behind my eyes. Apparently Ric's new woman has been busy decorating. There were brightly colored pieces of artwork hanging on the walls, pictures of her, Ric, and Julie sat on the sideboard, and muli colored pillows sat on the couch. I looked over to where our lunch sat on the coffee table and the food had been placed on dishes that had been painted in a variety of colors.

"Keep it together Steph," I silently reminded myself.

"Ella made pineapple upside down cake for you," Ric stated while placing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me towards the couch.

"That was nice of her, I'll have to thank her later," I said as I sat down on the couch.

Turkey sandwiches and fresh cut vegetables sat on our plates. I munched on a carrot stick as Ric took a drink of his water.

"So….." I started. "How is Julie doing?"

"She's doing good, she really likes school this year," Ric smiled.

An uncomfortable silence fell over us as I continued to munch on my carrot and Ric sat staring at his water glass. After a minute Ric turned and reached for my hand, "Stephanie, I owe you and explanation."

I looked up at him, waiting.

"I have known Sasha since I was a kid. When I was in Miami this last time we started seeing each other and I wanted to bring her back with me here to New Jersey."

I continued to look at Ric and realized that I was gripping tightly to his hand now like it was my life preserver.

Ric continued, "I know that you are not and have never been my woman. We have a complicated relationship. I hope that you will continue to work here at Rangeman and that we can even be friends. I want you to know that I support you relationship with Lester, I want you to be happy and he is one of the best men I know. But, if he hurts you I'll break his neck."

"Lester treats me like a queen," I answered. I scooted closer to Ric because I had one more question for him and I was almost afraid to ask it out loud. "Ric?" I started.

"What Babe?" Ric questioned back while running small circles with his thumb on my hand.

I whispered, "Why her and not me?"

Ric looked down and released my hand, he scrubbed both hands down his face. "You're too good for me," he whispered in response. Then he looked up and crushed my body to his. His lips crashed to mine in a searing kiss. I pulled away from gasping for breathe. Ric and I locked eyes and then Ric looked over at something behind my head. I turned to look behind me and saw a very angry Sasha.

"You little whore, get your paws off my man!"

"Sorry," I mumbled. Then I turned to Ric, handed him the key fob and gave him another mumbled, "Sorry." Ric just sat, motionless, on the couch with a sad look in his eyes.

I stood on unsteady legs to walk out the door with Sasha screaming, "I'm gonna tell your little boyfriend what you were up to you slut!"

I opened the door and heard Sasha angrily ask Ric, "Ricky, what's Lester's phone number?"

I made it to the stairwell where I sat on a step and gasped for air. I pulled my knees up and rested my forehead on my knees as I continued to take deep breathes. I finally felt like I could walk again and decided to walk all the way down the stairs to the parking garage because I didn't want to risk running into anyone on the elevator. Somehow I made it to my car. I drove home on autopilot and walked into my apartment where I slipped off my shoes and flopped onto my bed. As my head hit the pillow I heard my cell phone ringing. I looked at the screen and saw that it was Les calling.

"Hi," I said trying to hide the fact that I was on the verge of tears.

"Stephanie, what the hell is going on?" Les asked in an angry tone.

This was more than I could handle and the tears started coming.

Les continued, "Is it true that you had lunch with Ric today up in his apartment?"

"Yes," I whispered."

"Fuck," Les shouted, "Is it also true that you made out with him at lunch?"

"Les, please don't do this," I begged.

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as Les continued, "I will not be your second choice Stephanie. I don't think we should see each other anymore."

"Les, please," I blubbered out with tears streaming down my face. "Please," I begged.

"No Stephanie," Les responded and hung up.

I threw my phone and sobbed so hard it rocked my body. I cried myself to sleep and when I woke up I could feel how puffy my face was. I felt like shit. I sat up and went straight to take a shower. When I got out of the shower I dried off and put on an old pair of faded blue jeans and a white tank top. I went to the kitchen to say hey to Rex and to feed him. I got myself a glass of water and went back to my bedroom to check my cell phone.

I had one text from Ric that simply said "sorry."

I had one voice mail from Bobby, "Steph, please give me a call as soon as possible."

I called Bobby back while I sipped my water and ran my fingers through my wet hair.

"Steph," Bobby answered his phone.

"Hey Bobby, what's going on? I asked while I shifted on my bed.

"I know that all that gossip flying around Rangeman this afternoon is bullshit, but I guess Lester believed it."

"Yeah, thanks for believing in me Bobby, but Les doesn't want to see me anymore."

"I think he changed his mind."

"I don't think so Bobby, he was really mad."

"Lester went looking for Ric this afternoon and when he found him he tried to kick his ass, but he let his anger take over and made stupid mistakes. Ric ended up beating the shit out of Les and then he told Les what really happened between you two this afternoon. Sasha is just jealous and wanted to hurt you."

"Oh god, how bad is Lester?"

Bobby laughed, "He's pretty bruised up and sore, but he's sleeping it off right now."

"Bobby?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"How do you think Les would feel about me showing up at his apartment."

"I think that would make him a very happy man," Bobby responded.

"Thanks Bobby."

"Anytime Steph, bye."

"Bye," I said and clicked my phone shut.

I brushed my teeth, pulled my hair back in a pony tail, grabbed my purse, said goodnight to Rex, and walked out the door.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

I knocked softly on Lester's door and when he didn't answer I figured he was still sleeping, so I used my key to let myself in. I set my purse on the couch, slid my shoes off, and walked quietly back to the bedroom. When I reached his room the bedside lamp was on and I gasped at the sight of him. He had a large bruise covering his cheek smaller bruises covering his arms and chest.

My gasp must have woken Les up. "Sorry," I whispered as I went to his side.

"I didn't think you would ever want to see me again," Les whispered in a groggy voice.

I kneeled down by his bed and gently ran my fingertips across his face. "I'm so sorry," I whispered as I gently placed a kiss on each of his bruises. "I'm sorry," I repeated over and over. Hot tears began silently streaming down my face.

Les slid up into a sitting position, "I'm the one who owes you an apology. I can't believe that I got so mad at you over gossip."

"Les, I want to tell you what happened this afternoon."

"Ric already told me, he invited you to lunch so he could explain to you about Sasha and at the end of the conversation he couldn't keep his hands to himself and Sasha walked in on him trying to kiss you. You didn't do anything wrong Steph."

I smiled and leaned in to kiss Les, he wrapped one arm around me while the other one cupped my breast. I laughed, "I guess you're feeling okay, huh?"

"Mmmmh," Les laughed against my mouth as he kissed me again.

"I'll be right back," I whispered with one more kiss as I pulled away from Les.

"Baby," Les whimpered like a little boy when I moved away from him.

I laughed and went to the bathroom. I started the bath running and I couldn't find any bubble bath so I squirted some of Les's shower gel into the tub.

I walked to the foot of Les's bed where I stripped off my white tank top and jeans to expose some more of that Victorias Secret lingerie that Les likes so much. Les's eyes glazed over and I walked towards him to take his hand. "Can I give you a massage in the bathtub?" I questioned as Les slowly stood up from the bed.

"Sure," was his response.

It was my turn to let out a sharp gasp because when Les stood up I discovered that he had been completely naked under the sheet of his bed. "I will never get tired of looking at your body," I said.

Les laughed and said, "Ditto."

I helped a very sore Les slide into the bathtub, then I took off my bra and panties, and joined him in the tub. I sat at his behind him so that I could massage his back. I started rubbing Les's shoulders and I saw his body relax.

"Baby, I am so sorry. I should have never yelled at you like that."

I continued massaging Les and moved my fingers lower to his back.

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Les questioned.

"Les, when you told me that you didn't want to see me anymore you shattered my heart. I couldn't imagine not being with you. Of course I forgive you."

I finished massaging Les's back and moved on to his arms. "Did you at least give Ric a black eye or something?" I questioned with a laugh.

Les laughed in response, "Yeah, he's got a few bruises. I guess we both acted like idiots."

Les continued, "Baby, let's go to bed."

"K," I answered as I stepped from the tub, dried off, and helped Les to dry off. When we were both dry Les wrapped his arms around me and we just stood there until my stomach growled.

Les laughed, "Do you want to eat before we go to bed?"

"I would rather eat after you make love to me," I said while placing a hard kiss on Lester's lips.

"As you wish," Les responded with a smile.

When we reached the bedroom Les allowed me to gently push him down on the bed. "Why don't you let me do all the work since you're injured and all," I said as I straddled him and began kissing every part of his body. When I was done with thoroughly kissing every inch of him I slid his hard cock into my waiting pussy.

"Oh God, I think it feels better every time," I breathed out as I slid all the way down on him.

"Baby," Les breathed out as he gently placed his hands on my sides.

I closed my eyes and slid up and down on his cock while he reached up and tweaked my nipples. I screamed out as my first orgasm hit. Just as I was coming down I heard one of those sexy moans come from Les and I felt him shoot his hot load inside of me.

I smiled and opened my eyes to find a smiling Lester. I remained on top of Les while we both caught our breathe. "Still hungry?" Les asked after a few minutes.

"Mmm, yeah."

"Let's go see what's in the kitchen," he said while pulling me to my feet.

"You don't look so sore anymore Mr. Santos," I said while following his naked ass to the kitchen.

"The miraculous powers of sex," Les joked.

Les sat me down on the couch while he started hunting through the cupboards for food. I heard my cell phone ring from my purse and picked it up to see who was calling, it was Ric. I looked up to find Les looking at me. "It's Ric," I said."

I wasn't sure that I should answer until Les said, "See what he wants."

"Hey Ric."

"Steph, how is he?"

"Sore, but feeling better."

"How are you?"

"Sore, listen, I talked to Sasha and we would like to invite you and Les out to dinner tomorrow night."

"Les is right here, let me ask him."

"Ric and Sasha would like to invite us to dinner tomorrow night," I asked Les.

Les just grinned, "Sure," he said.

"Ric?"

"Yo."

"Lester and I would like to accept your invitation."

"Can you be ready at 8?"

"Yep."

"Bye Ba… Steph."

"Bye Ric."

I clicked my phone shut and moved to join Les in the kitchen. He was still grinning like an idiot. "What is so damn funny?"

"Oh, come on, this is a funny situation."

I laughed, "Yes, it is pretty entertaining. Oh, we need to be ready by 8."

"Score," Les shouted while looking in his freezer. "Frozen pizza," he said while turning to show me the box.

"Yeah, score," I agreed. I took the box from Lester's hand, got the pizza in the oven, and set the timer for 15 minutes. I then wrapped my naked body around his naked body. His mouth crashed into mine and our tongues danced together in a hot kiss. I grabbed Les's ass while his fingers dipped lower and teased my clit.

"Ohh," I moaned, "Oh Les."

The kitchen timer startled me and I moaned at the loss of Les's thick fingers. I watched through my glazed over eyes as Les turned off both the timer and the oven.

"What do you want," he asked in a husky tone."

"What?" I asked confused in my flustered state.

"Sex first or pizza first?" Les clarified.

"Oh God, your dick buried deep inside of my first, what an easy question."

Les threw me over his shoulder and bounced me onto the couch. Before I could even say "pizza" Les had buried his dick deep inside of me.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

What will happen between Ric, Sasha, Stephanie, and Lester at dinner the next night????????


	6. Chapter 6

I have just completed and exciting 7 hours of searches for Rangeman and am trying to hunt Lester down so I can say bye to him before I go home to get ready for our dinner date with Ric and Sasha. I walked around the office area looking for him and couldn't find him, so I went to ask Ric if he knew where he was.

I knocked on Ric's office door and heard a gruff, "Enter."

I opened the door and when I walked in I gently shut the heavy door behind me. Ric's blank mask dropped and a smile appeared on his bruised face, "Hey Babe," he greeted. "What's up?"

"I was just trying to track down Les, do you know if he is here today?"

"He was on monitors today," Ric answered.

"Thanks Ric, I guess I'll see you later."

"Steph?" Ric questioned while standing up from his desk chair. "I'm sorry about yesterday," he stated as he moved towards me.

"Thank you," I said.

Ric took another step towards me and we gave each other a friendly hug. O.K., maybe it was a little more than a friendly hug. I took a deep breathe at his neck to smell his familiar scent of Bulgari and I'm pretty sure he smelled my hair for my strawberry shampoo.

"See you soon," I whispered as I pulled out of the hug.

"See you soon," Ric responded with a kiss on the cheek.

I turned and had a smile on my face as I went to look for Les. I went to the monitors and saw Zero sitting there.

"Hi Steph."

"Hey Zero, have you seen Les."

"Yeah," Zero said while pointing to one of the monitors. "He's in the gym."

"Thanks."

I entered the gym and was frozen in place. Les was alone in the gym, clad in a pair of cross trainers and basketball shorts. He was all sweaty and lifting weights and it was the hottest thing I had ever seen. He didn't hear me enter because he was listening to his I-pod.

When my feet became unfrozen I walked over the bench where he was sitting. When he saw me he smiled, set his weights down, and pulled the buds out of his ears. "Hey Baby."

Les's arms snaked out and pulled me towards him for a hot, sweaty hug. I wrapped my legs around him so that I was straddling him and kissed him with a lot of tongue. I couldn't help myself, I started grinding myself against him.

"Oh Steph," he moaned out while moving a hand to tease my nipple.

"Les," I moaned and pushed myself against his hand.

Suddenly Les's cell phone rang and I jumped up. Les flipped his cell phone. "Yo," he answered on a strangled breathe.

The person on the other end said something and then Les flipped his phone shut. He stood up, grabbed my hand, and yanked me towards the door.

"Who was that?" I asked confused.

"That was Zero, Ric came by to checkout the monitors, saw us, and wanted to remind me that there are cameras in the gym and that maybe we should get a room."

"Oh."

Les almost dragged me all the way to his apartment and once we got into his apartment he had me stripped down to my underwear very fast. His sharp gasp when he saw my underwear surprised me because I was not wearing very pretty underwear today, just my regular Rangeman stuff; a plain black sports bra and black bikini underwear.

Suddenly Les was no longer in front of me and I followed him with my eyes. He walked towards the kitchen and proceeded to punch a hole in the wall.

I started to pull my clothes back on, not understanding his instant rage, and not liking it either.

Les faced the kitchen wall with his back to me, "He has his fucking name on your underwear."

"Um, yeah, it's not his name, it's the company name," I stuttered out while trying to get my clothes on. "Les, I'm gonna go now," I stated as I turned and walked out the door.

His rage scared me so much that I just wanted to get out of there. Hot tears pricked at my eyes as I rode the elevator down to my cubicle so I could get my purse. I walked as calmly as I could towards my desk and as I was picking up my purse I felt a hand encircle itself around my forearm.

I turned and it was Les, still clad in only his workout clothes, "Baby, I'm sorry."

I tried to shrug out of his grasp, but he wasn't backing down. "Les, you're hurting me, let go," I tried to say in an even tone so as not to alert any of the Rangemen.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me."

"Les, you scared me, you can't do that kind of shit around me." I once again tried to push his hand away, but he still wouldn't move. I don't think he meant to hurt me, but he was. Suddenly Les's hand moved away and Ric was standing next to me.

Bobby was standing next to Les trying to calm him down, "Come on man, you gotta go cool off."

Les took a step towards Ric, their eyes were locked, but Bobby held Les back.

"Come on man, let's go cool off," Bobby was talking to Les again and suddenly Hal was there too.

While the boys were occupied I quietly grabbed my purse and turned to walk away. 2 steps into my walk an arm wrapped itself around my shoulders and I jumped.

"Sorry, it's just me Babe. Come on you are in no condition to drive."

Ric led me back towards his office and I saw Hal and Bobby lead Les somewhere else.

Ric shut his office door, locked it, and sat us both on his leather couch. I immediately launched myself at his chest and started crying. His strong arms held me very tightly and he whispered soothingly to me in Spanish. After what seemed like forever I hiccupped through my last sobs and Ric started rubbing gentle circles on my back with his fingers.

"Ric?"

"Babe?"

"I want to go home."

"Okay," Ric responded while holding my hand as we both stood from the couch. My phone started ringing while we were walking towards the parking garage. I flipped my phone open to find Les calling and I turned my phone off. Ric walked us towards the Porsche and I smiled.

"That's what I like to see," Ric smiled back.

I let my hands glide over the leather of the interior of the Porsche and then settled back against the seat when Ric started the car. Ric placed his hand on my thigh and I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the passenger side window.

When we reached my apartment Ric turned off the car and reached for my hand as we walked towards my apartment. As we entered my apartment I walked towards the kitchen and got a glass of water. I took some deep breaths and sipped on my water, when I looked up I saw Ric sitting on the couch. I sat my glass down and walked towards him.

"Thanks for bringing my home Ric, but I'm sure you have to get back."

"I don't need to be back for 2 hours," Ric responded. "Why don't you find a movie we can watch."

"You're going to hang out with me and watch a movie?" I questioned in surprise.

"Yes."

I grabbed "Die Hard" because I knew Ric liked that one and put it on. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, just relax Babe."

I turned the lights off and sat in the chair next to the couch.

"Babe."

"What?" I questioned quietly.

He just looked at me and I knew he wanted me to sit next to him. I slid onto the couch and Ric slid his arms around me, "Thanks," I said as I relaxed into him.

Half way through the movie Ric laid back and took me with him so that I was now cuddled into his chest. "Thank you Ric," I mumbled and then I was asleep.

When I woke up on the couch the apartment was very dark and I was alone. I sat up and I could hear Ric talking in my bedroom, "Sasha, I'm sorry, I got stuck at work," he lied. Then there was a short pause in the conversation. "Yes, take my credit card and have fun shopping. See you tomorrow."

Ric was still in my bedroom with the door closed when I heard a knock at my door. I stood up and found Lester standing outside my door. I opened the door, "Hi Les."

"Steph, can I please come in."

"I don't think so."

"I saw his Porsche, I know he's here."

"Yes, he is here, but that's not why you can't come in."

"Will, why the hell can't I come in?"

"Les, you have to calm down and then we can talk."

Les clenched his fists into balls and it scared me, I moved to shut my front door and he put his foot in the way.

Suddenly I was shoved away from the door and Ric and Les were in each others faces.

"Les, you need to go cool off," Ric gritted out.

"Fuck you Ric," Les shouted while throwing a punch at Ric's face.

Ric blocked him and had him on the floor so fast I didn't even see what happened.

Ric looked up at me, "Steph, call Bobby to come get Lester."

"K." I called Bobby and then went to sit on my bed to wait.

I heard my front door shut and saw Ric come walking towards me while he was gulping down a glass of water.

"Are you okay," I whispered.

"I'm okay, are you okay," he asked while crouching in front of me and gently touching my face.

I leaned into his hand and just sighed, "I don't know."

After a quiet moment I remembered the phone call I had heard between Ric and Sasha earlier. "You should go home to Sasha," I whispered.

"She's busy out spending my money, she won't miss me," he responded.

"I heard your phone call earlier, you lied and told her you got stuck at work," I said while looking into his eyes.

"She won't miss me," he simply repeated.

We locked eyes for a few more moments, "I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed. If you leave, I'll understand." I stood from the bed, grabbed some pajamas on the way, and walked towards the bathroom.

"I will only leave if you want me to," Ric said quietly.

I took a scalding hot shower, brushed my teeth, and slid into a short, cotton, spaghetti strap nightgown. When I emerged from the bathroom I found Ric laying back on the bed with his arms crossed behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles.

"My turn," he said while smiling and sitting up.

I went out to talk to Rex and feed him while Ric was in the bathroom. I ate a bowl of cheerios and another glass of water while I talked to Rex and he at his dinner.

I was walking towards the bathroom when Ric walked out of the bathroom, clad in a pair of black sweat pants. He must have gotten his duffle out of his car while I was taking my shower.

"Are you hungry? I have Cheerios," I smiled.

"Sure, I'll take a bowl of Cheerios," Ric smiled back while following me to the kitchen.

I fixed Ric a bowl of Cheerios and sat with him while he ate. We sat in comfortable silence while he ate and when he was finished he placed his dishes in the sink.

"Ready for bed, Babe?" he asked as he took my hand.

"Yeah," I placed my head on Ric's shoulder as we walked down the short hallway towards the bedroom.

We clicked off lights along the way and slid under the cool covers together and I turned so that I was facing Ric. His hand reached out to caress my arm and I reached my hand up to place it on his side. We continue to lay there in silence, I felt myself soaking up his calmness.

"Goodnight Babe," Ric whispered.

"Goodnight Ric," I said and leaned in to give him a kiss goodnight. One kiss turned in to many small kisses. I finally pulled myself together and pulled away, "This is wrong, you're with Sasha now."

"Babe," Ric said and reached out for me.

I slid away and turned so that my back was to Ric. I began silently crying again. Ric pulled me towards him and spooned me, "Is this okay?" he whispered.

"Yes," I whispered back.

"Babe, will you spend the day with me tomorrow? I think we need to talk."

"Yes," I said with a yawn while snuggling back against Ric. "I always feel safe with you," I stated quietly.

**************Will Lester redeem himself, will Ric break up with Sasha, Who will Stephanie end up with???


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up slowly and looked over at my alarm clock to discover the red numbers telling me it was 6 am.

I turned on my left side and saw Ric still fast asleep. He lay on his back, his silky black hair fanned out on the pillow and his mouth hung open slightly.

I smiled at my friend, my boss, the man who always comes to my rescue. I reached out my fingers to trace his fingers on his right hand, his knuckles, the back of his hand, and moved up to trace the bicep of his arm. His breathing changed and a small smile broke out on his face. I stilled my hand and leaned up to kiss his warm cheek, "Good morning."

"Mmm, morning," he whispered with his voice still husky from sleep.

Ric brought his left hand to his now open eyes and a surprised look flashed across his face when he looked at his wrist watch.

"Babe," he said.

"What?" I questioned while sitting up.

"6 am?" he asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm just not tired. But, I'm not running," I added.

"Go for a walk with me?" he asked while sitting up.

"Can we get coffee?"

"Babe," he smiled.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSL

Ric and I were walking around a big lake at a nearby park. We were both dressed in sweats and I had a large cup of coffee in my hand while Ric carried a bottle of water in his.

We walked silently for a few minutes and I breathed in the cool morning air. I found myself thinking about Lester and wondering what he was doing right now.

Ric stopped and sat on a wooden park bench. I joined him and we sat facing each other with our knees touching.

"Babe, will you tell me what happened with Lester yesterday, please."

"Umm, it's kind of embarrassing," I said while lowering my eyes to look at the ground.

Ric placed his finger under my chin so that I was now looking into his soft brown eyes, and simply said, "Babe."

His soft tone and the touch of his hand made me feel like I could tell him anything. "We were um, we were, uh, foolingaroundandstuff, and he got made cause Rangeman is sewn into my underwear," I blurted out.

"What do you mean, "got mad," Ric asked in that same quiet, soothing tone.

"He punched a hole in his kitchen wall."

Ric sat quietly for a moment and then stated, "You were really scared yesterday."

"Yeah," I said as I scooted closer to Ric and placed my head on his shoulder while setting my coffee cup on the ground. "I had a boyfriend a few years back who had a really bad temper. It would always start out with him throwing things, breaking things, punching holes in the wall, and then sometimes he would take his anger out on me. I don't think Les would really hurt me, but when he did what he did yesterday it really freaked me out, it reminded me of how things were for me before. It was like I was right back there, it was a scary feeling."

Ric remained silent and placed his arm around me to hug me tightly to his body. "You should tell Les what you just told me," Ric stated quietly.

I looked up at Ric, "Yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah Babe, he really does love you."

I set my head back on Ric's shoulder and he squeezed me against his body with his arm while we sat quietly on the bench for a few minutes. "Ric," I whispered after I built up some courage.

"Mmm?" he responded.

"Do you love Sasha," I breathed out on a whisper. I could feel Ric's whole body tense up suddenly and he dropped his arm that had been around me so that he could scrub both of his hands across his face. Part of me wanted him to answer the question and part of me wished that I had never asked it.

Ric looked into my eyes, "Stephanie, I have told you before that my life doesn't lend itself to relationships. I have done so many horrible things, I have enemies, and I have to go out of the country a lot. Yes, I do love Sasha. She has known me for a very long time and even though she will not marry me, she will not have my children, she does give me companionship." Ric stopped to pick up my hand and intertwine our fingers and I placed my head on his shoulder again. "Sasha and I do have our differences, sometimes we fight like brother and sister," he laughed as he continued. "But, we do love each other."

"I love you," I whispered to Ric.

"And, I love you," he said back while placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"Friends?" I questioned.

"Yes, friends," he responded. Ric stood and reached his hand out and with our fingers still intertwined I rose with him. We finished our walk, holding hands, and talking about my relationship with Lester and Ric's relationship with Sasha. It was the strangest conversation I had ever had with Ric, and it was great.

Ric drove me back to my apartment and parked his car. He placed his hand on my thigh, "You can take the rest of the day off if you need it," Ric said quietly.

"Thanks, boss, but I think I'll come in for a few hours," I smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on Ric's cheek.

Ric reached out to run his fingertips across my cheek and he smiled, "See you soon Babe."

"See you soon, Ric," I stated as I turned and opened the car door.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

"Chicken," I mumbled to myself. Here I am, sitting in the Rangeman parking garage. After Ric dropped me off I had shared a breakfast of pop tarts with Rex, showered, and dressed in my Rangeman uniform. "I am such a chicken shit," I mumbled to myself again. I had been sitting in my car for about 5 minutes, I really wanted to talk to Les, but I was feeling really nervous.

I heard the ding of the elevator doors and looked over to see Bobby stepping into the garage. I opened my car door and stepped out. "Hi Bobby," I finger waved.

"Are you actually planning on coming into the building or just sitting in the garage all day," he smiled.

"Ha ha," I responded. "Is Les around," I asked while looking at Bobby's bright brown eyes.

"Yeah, he hasn't started his shift yet and he's still up in his apartment."

"Thanks Bobby," I said while walking towards the elevator. "Oh, and Bobby," I said while turning back to face him, "Thanks for yesterday."

"No problem, Steph, I hope you guys work it out," Bobby responded while walking towards his car.

I rode the elevator up to Lester's floor and knocked on his door. After a minute the door opened and I saw a very sleepy, disheveled Lester standing before me. He was clad in a pair of cotton boxers, his eyes were full of sleep, and his short hair was standing up in every direction.

"Baby," he mumbled when he saw me.

"Can I come in?" I asked.

Lester stepped aside and as I sat on the couch I watched him walk towards the kitchen to make coffee.

"Just give me a sec," he said while looking at me. He walked down the hall and I heard the water running in the bathroom. A few minutes later he came back down the short hallway wearing gray sweats, a black t-shirt, and it looked like he had combed his hair and washed his face.

"Coffee?" he asked while walking into the kitchen again.

"Yes please," I answered and watched while he fixed my coffee just the way I like it. This caused me to smile.

"Hey," Les whispered as he handed me my cup of coffee. He sat down on the other end of the couch and sat his cup on the coffee table. "Stephanie I don't know how to tell you just how sorry I am about yesterday," he said with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Les, there are some things you don't know about me. Some things that I think I should share with you." I took a sip of my coffee and sat it down on the coffee table. I glanced over at the hole in the kitchen wall and then looked at Les to find that he had followed my gaze. "A few years back, after I divorced Dickie, I had a boyfriend who had a really bad temper. He would throw things, break things, punch holes in the wall, and sometimes he would get so mad that he would take his anger out on me."

"Steph, I would never…" Les interrupted me.

I just held up my hand, "When you did what you did yesterday I freaked out. I felt like I was right back there. I used to be so scared, not knowing if he would just stick to throwing things, or if he would hit me." Tears pricked my eyes as I tried to finish saying what I wanted to say to Les. "I just, I can't handle it if you get angry like that Les, I can't do that again." A few silent tears slid down my cheeks and Les moved to sit closer to me. I was not ready for him to touch me yet and I flinched back. I could see the look of hurt that crossed his hazel eyes.

Les slid back away from me. "Steph, baby, I have never, ever put my hands on a woman. I would never and have never hurt a woman."

We both sat, silently staring at each other.

"What can I do to fix this, to fix us?" Les asked.

I thought for a moment and then I knew what I wanted, "Be my friend again."

"Can a friend give you a hug?" Les smiled.

"Of course," I smiled. This time when Les moved towards me I welcomed him. His warm arms wrapped around me as we both sat on the couch and I found myself looking towards the hole in the kitchen wall again. Suddenly all of the emotions from the last two days caught up with me and I found myself bawling.

"Shh, Baby," Les murmered to me while rubbing my back."

I hugged my body tighter to Les, needing his strength, his comfort. Finally my tears stopped and I sat with my arms around Les, my head snuggled into his chest. I heard a knock on the door and I scooted away from Les. But, he squeezed me back towards him, "Come here," he said quietly. With one final squeeze he got up to answer the door.

I turned and watched Les open the door. Ric and Bobby came walking in and I smiled.

"What's going on?" I asked, still smiling.

"Just ah, stopped by to say hi," Bobby stated.

"Mmmh," I responded.

"Hi," Ric said and we all burst out laughing.

As Lester's laughter died down he asked, "What are you guys, checking up on me now."

"Nope, just stopped by to say hi," Bobby said with a straight face.

Just then Tank stuck his bald head in the door and said, "Does anybody actually work here anymore."

We all laughed again and I smiled feeling happy, protected, and content. When we stopped laughing Les gave me a kiss on the cheek and told me he would see me later and I followed Bobby and Ric towards the elevator while Les got ready for work.

Once the elevator doors closed I said, "Thank you my boys," and kissed both Bobby and Ric on the cheek. We all got off on the 5th floor and each went our separate ways for the day.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

At 5 I turned off my computer and stood up to stretch. Les walked by my cubicle right at that moment and was grinning like a little boy. He held up a pack of socks and I said, "What?"

"Bowling," he responded. "Meet me back here in an hour?" he asked.

"You're on," I said.

"Oh, and since we missed dinner with Sasha and Ric I invited them to come with us. Is that okay," Les asked.

"Um, sure," I said, although feeling unsure about facing Sasha.

"Les?"

He turned to face me in response.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged myself to him, "I missed you."

Les hugged me and then pulled back slightly to place a soft kiss on my lips. "See you in an hour."

I chose to respond by kissing him again and shoving my tongue into his welcoming mouth. His hands lowered to grab my ass and I clawed my nails into his back. I let out a moan and reached up to grab a handful of hair while he lowered his lips to nip at my neck. Then I heard someone clearing their throat very loudly and coughing. Les and I both stopped kissing each other and looked in the same direction to find Bobby having some sort of "coughing fit."

"One hour," Les said again, kissed me on my lips, and then he was gone.

I rushed home, pulled my hair back, showered quickly, fed Rex dinner, and changed into faded blue jeans and a light pink tank top. I was finished getting ready in a mere 30 minutes, impressive. I raced back to Rangeman and went straight up to Les's apartment. It had only been a couple of days, but I had forgotten how great it felt to be wrapped in his arms and how good his lips felt on me.

I knocked at Les's door and he answered it wearing only a towel and a grin.

"Hey, you got ready fast and you look good," he said. Then he reached for me, "Mmm, you smell good too."

I ran my fingertips down his well defined pecs to his abs and then stood on my tip toes to place a gently kiss on his neck. "You smell good," I whispered and his lips descended on mine. His hot mouth fused to mine for a gentle, loving kiss.

"Come here, I want to show you something," he said while holding my hand in his and leading the way.

"What, your bedroom?" I asked while laughing.

"Later, if you're lucky," he responded.

"If I'm lucky? I think you mean if you're lucky," I kidded back.

Les had led us to the kitchen. "I have 2 things to show you. First," he pointed to the wall where the hole used to be. "Fixed it myself this afternoon."

I just looked at him, not knowing what to say. Once again I was remembering another time and another man who would buy new things or fix them, only to break them again. I released Les's hand and my body stiffened at the memory.

"You can't just fix it and pretend it didn't happen," I said robotically, not able to meet Les's eyes. I stared at the kitchen counter and reminded myself to breathe so that I wouldn't start crying.

"Steph?" he questioned. "I know, I won't forget, it will never happen again. "I have something else to show you," he continued. He picked up some papers from the kitchen counter and handed them to me, "Look, please."

I opened the papers and read them, "You signed up for anger management classes?" I asked.

"Yes."

I set the papers down, took a step towards Les, and wrapped my arms around him. "You are a good man," I mumbled against his chest.

Les's arms tightened around me, "Does this help to fix us?" he asked against the top of my head.

"Yes, very much so," I said while kissing my way up his chest to his neck. He leaned down to place his warm, soft lips against mine. Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Oh yeah, bowling," Les mumbled against my lips.

"Go get dressed and I'll get the door," I said with one final kiss and swatted him on his towel clad butt.

I opened the door to find Ric wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a brown t-shirt while Sasha was wearing a pale orange summer dress. I really looked at Sasha for the first time as she entered Les's apartment. Her dark skin matches Ric's, she has perfectly straight, white teeth, she is a couple of inches taller than me, 10 pounds thinner, and I would guess she is about the same age as me.

"Les should be out in a minute," I said to Ric and Sasha, "Can I get either of you a drink?"

"No thanks Ba…Stephanie," Ric said.

"Do you have any wine?" Sasha asked.

"I'm not sure, I'll check."

I rummaged through Les's kitchen and came up with a bottle of merlot. "How's this," I asked while holding the bottle up for Sasha to see.

She wrinkled her nose, "That's okay, no thanks."

Lester walked out of his bedroom wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and an olive green t-shirt. I loved it when he wore that color, it made his eyes look extra sexy. He was holding his pack of socks from earlier and said, "Let's go."

We all stepped into the elevator and Sasha took a step towards Ric. He placed his arm around her shoulder and she placed one hand on his chest while her head rested on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly and he placed a kiss on her head.

Les reached for my hand and Ric and I locked eyes.

Sasha whispered something in Ric's ear and he growled. I looked out of the side of my eyes at Les and he was smiling.

We all stepped into the parking garage and Les wrapped an arm around me. I nestled my head on his shoulder and watched as Ric kissed Sasha while we all walked towards the Cayenne. A million thoughts fluttered through my head, was I happy for Ric, jealous, was I content with Lester, was I mature enough to handle this double date?????

Ric drove us all to the bowling alley with Sasha in the passenger seat and Les and I in the back seat. Les pulled me to him and placed a small kiss on my lips. It felt wrong though, like my dad was in the car. I pulled away from Les and when I looked up I met Ric's eyes in the rear view mirror and he smiled, which made me smile back at him. I watched as he picked up Sasha's hand and held it the entire way to the bowling alley.

Once we entered the bowling alley Sasha went to use the restroom and Les went to get our lane and shoes. Ric walked towards the video games and crooked his finger for me to follow him. He found a dark corner and pulled me towards him, "Hey," he said while hooking a finger under my chin, "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, but this is weird huh?"

"Yeah, it's a little weird," Ric laughed.

Ric leaned in and brushed his lips against my earlobe, "Let's go bowl."

"I'm gonna beat you bad," I taunted as he pulled away from me and I playfully punched him in the arm.

Ric and I walked over to find Les and Sasha. Les was entering our names into the computer and talking animatedly while Sasha was looking pretty uncomfortable. "Ricky," she breathed out and walked up to him so that all Ric had to do was lower his head and they were kissing. The kiss was actually getting pretty heated and I couldn't seem to look away.

"All right Beautiful, you're up first," Les said. This pulled me away from staring at Ric and Sasha.

We all put our bowling shoes and new socks on and we were ready to bowl. It turned out we were all equally awful. We all had a lot of fun, even Sasha loosened up. We actually talked about getting together for lunch sometime the following week. The car ride home was filled with all of us giving each other a bad time about what a bad bowler the other one was. Sasha and Ric gave each other small kisses on the car ride home while Les and I were completely snuggled up together. Everything was okay.

When we pulled into Rangeman I saw Ric whisper something to Sasha and told her he would see her in 5 minutes. He swatted her on the butt and she giggled as she walked towards the elevator.

"Can I borrow your woman for a minute," Ric asked Lester.

"As long as you return her to me," Les responded and pulled me in for the mother of all kisses.

I shakily turned my attention to Ric.

Les ran to catch up to Sasha, "Hey, hold the elevator," he shouted. I watched them both get on the elevator and then I turned to Ric. He had the biggest grin on his face. "What?" I laughed uncomfortably.

"That was fun."

"Yeah," I breathed out, relieved.

Ric wrapped his arm around my shoulders, "It wasn't that weird in the end, was it?"

"No, it actually felt pretty normal and nice."

Ric took my hand and we got into the elevator together. When we reached Lester's floor he gave me a kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Love you."

"I love you too," I whispered back and kissed his cheek. "Good night," I added.

I had a smile on my face as I walked towards Les's apartment.

LSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLSLS

I let myself in and found Les sitting on the couch. "Hey Buddy," he laughed.

"Hey friend," I kidded back.

"Come here," he said, motioning to the seat beside him.

I sat down next to him, "Yes?"

"Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes," I breathed out.

Les's soft, full lips descended on mine. Our lips moved together and my hands instinctively moved around his neck. His hands instinctively moved to cup my breasts. "Les," I moaned as he deepened the kiss. I moved my mouth to kiss his cheek, earlobe, collarbone, and sucked on his neck. Then I stopped my assault to look into his eyes. His green eyes held a tender look. I lightly placed my hands on either side of his face so that I was cupping it and I just looked into his eyes.

"What is it baby?" he asked after a moment.

I answered him with a short, soft kiss on his lips. "Les?"

"What baby?"

"I want to spend the night, but can you just hold me tonight."

"I can do whatever you need me to do," Les answered.

"Thank you. I'm all keyed up from the bowling, is it okay if I use your bathtub?"

"Sure, for a kiss," he grinned.

"Sounds like a deal to me," I said while leaning into Les and he gave me a soft, gentle kiss that left me wanting more.

Les pulled away and stood up from the couch, "I'll get you a fresh towel."

"Thanks." I stood from the couch too and went to run some hot water into the tub. Les placed a fluffy, clean towel on the counter and walked towards the bedroom without saying a word. I smiled and shut the bathroom door. While I sat in the hot water I thought about the night. I could actually see myself becoming friends with Sasha and mine and Ric's relationship appeared to be evolving. Les and I are on our way to fixing our relationship. I suddenly realized how relaxed I was feeling and that I couldn't wait to have Les's arms around me. I stood from the tub and wrapped myself in the towel, I put on my underwear, and went to see if Les would loan me one of his t-shirts.

Les had turned all the lights off in the apartment and when I entered his room he was laying on the bed playing some sort of handheld video game. "Hi," he said in a very sexy, husky voice.

"Hey, can I borrow one of your shirts?"

"Any one you want," he said pointing towards his closet.

"Thanks," I said while walking into his closet. I chose a well worn blue t-shirt and went into the bathroom to change. On my way back to the bedroom Les was walking towards the bathroom and he wrapped his arms lightly around my waist. "You were in there forever," he lightly complained while nipping at my neck. His warm breath and light touches had me in quite a state.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Mmm," he responded while exploring my entire neck and pulling the shirt down to expose my collarbone and one shoulder. He was touching me so lightly, using his soft lips and his tongue. I leaned my neck to one side to give him better access and he sucked.

"Mmm," I moaned.

"Go get in bed, I'll be there in a minute," he whispered seductively.

I stumbled through my lust induced fog to the bed and climbed under the covers. The entire time Les was in the bathroom I chanted to myself, "I just want to be held tonight, no sex, I just want to be held tonight, no sex." I was so busy saying this to myself that I jumped when I felt the bed dip next to me.

"What are you thinking about," Les mused while coming at me with his hands and mouth.

"Uh, uh buster, you are just going to hold me tonight."

Les laughed, "Whatever you want baby. Come here."

Les pulled me to him and I sighed. He was just wearing his boxers now and the feel of skin on skin felt so damn good. My head was telling me not to have sex tonight, while my doo dah was trying to convince my head that sex was a great idea.

Les kissed the top of my head and combed his fingers through my hair.

"That feels heavenly," I mumbled into his neck.

"I love holding you in my arms like this."

"Les? We're okay?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"Mmm. And you're okay with me and Ric being friends."

"Yeah," Les responded while moving his hands to rub up and down my back. He slid one hand under the shirt I was wearing and I shamelessly moaned when his hand touched my bare skin.

I reached out to run my hand along his arm while he continued to move his hand up and down my back. I moved my fingers from his arm up to his ear and I moved to kiss his jaw line.

He responded with a quiet, "Mmm."

I ran the back of my hand against his cheek and then moved in to place more open mouthed kisses along his neck. His eyes slid shut.

"Les?"

"Yes, baby?"

"I want to have dinner with your sister and Allie."

"Whatever you want," he mumbled with his hands now rubbing soothing circles across my shoulder blades.

"This week?"

"I'll call her first thing in the morning."

"Les?"

"What is it baby?"

"I changed my mind."

"Okay, we don't have to have dinner with my sister."

"No, that's not what I changed my mind about?"

"Hmm?" he questioned.

"Unless you are too tired, do you think you could make love to me?" I innocently asked while reaching down to grasp his rock hard cock.

Les opened his eyes and looked at me, "Are you sure?"

"Please," I quietly begged while running my hand up and down his cock. "I need you inside of my right now, I need to feel close to you again."

"Baby," Les whispered while placing small kisses across my face and down my neck. He reached down to tug off my panties and I reached down to free him from his boxers. They were a challenge to get off with his dick sticking out like that, we both laughed. He nudged my legs apart with his and pulled his shirt off of me. "Stephanie," he said looking into my eyes, "I love you."

I reached up to touch his face as he thrust into me. We both groaned at the sensation. I dug my nails into his ass while he pumped in and out of me. He hit that spot that feels so damn good and I moaned in ecstasy, "Don't stop," I begged.

He leaned down and latched his lips onto mine as he continued to thrust in and out while I felt like I was in a state of euphoria. I arched into him and he released my lips to expell a moan of his own. I met his thrusts until we were both panting and sweating. We both let out one final groan and we both came together. Les rolled off of my trying to catch his breathe and I was of course crying again. I had silent, hot tears streaming down my face.

Les looked at me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I simply nodded and he pulled my towards him, pulling the covers back over us. "Sleep my love, I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" I asked through my tears.

"I promise. I love you Stephanie," he whispered with one last kiss to the top of my head.

I snuggled against Les's chest, listened to his heart beat, and fell into a restful slumber.


End file.
